New racial equity training for local leaders is one way the Community Foundation of Broward helps answer our community’s call for social justice.
The Community Foundation, in collaboration with the Children’s Services Council, is hosting a series of online racial equity training sessions for our Board of Directors along with leaders from many of Broward’s top civic organizations and nonprofits.
Dozens of representatives from the Broward Workshop, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce, Our Fund and other local partners are joining Community Foundation Board members to explore ways to overcome systemic racism and implicit bias.
Bringing local leaders together and creating opportunities for them to learn more about important issues is one of the Community Foundation’s key strengths, said Sheri Broward, Foundation Vice President of Community Impact.
“Our leaders have expressed a strong willingness and sense of urgency to work collectively to dismantle structural racism, and it starts with gaining foundational knowledge and common language,” Sheri said. “We feel that through these informative sessions that examine racial disparities across a variety of issues and the consequences, we will be able to unify our efforts to define solutions that bring about the necessary changes in our businesses and institutions to ensure that equality and justice exist for all people in our community.”
One training session was held on April 23 and more local leaders will be able to participate in a similar session on May 6.
The training sessions are facilitated by Dr. Sue Gallagher and Michell Hagues from the Children’s Services Council, who help participants better understand racism and implicit bias in order to find ways to improve lives in our community.
The sessions explore the local history of racism to identify the origins and ongoing evolution of racial disparities in employment, education, health, economics, criminal justice and other aspects of our society. Participants also learn more about the consequences of implicit, or unconscious, bias in employment, education, health and criminal justice systems as well as strategies and solutions to improve outcomes.
It is thrilling to see so many community leaders participating in the racial equity training hosted by the Community Foundation, said Cathy Donnelly, who serves as a Council Member for the Children’s Services Council. Cathy is also a Fundholder at the Community Foundation and one of our 43 Community Builders.
“The more community leaders and board members we can expose to this work the better chance we have of seeing solid change occur in our community,” Cathy said. “It has taken years for us to get to this pivotal point in our society and I am heartened to see the Community Foundation reaching out to leaders in this work like the Children’s Services Council and engaging in the movement.”
Racial equity training sessions are examples of the small steps we can take to help move our community forward, Cathy said.
“I see it as the first of many that we can take together to increase our understanding and allow us to see our community through a racially equitable lens that will encourage equality at all levels of our community outreach,” Cathy said.
Click here to learn more about the Community Foundation of Broward’s commitment to social justice.
Click here to learn more about how support for the arts helps answer our community’s call for social justice.
You can contact the Community Foundation of Broward at info@cfbroward.org and 954-761-9503.
